Dallin Johnson

Dallin Johnson

I study who leaves, who stays, and who doesn't get to choose.

PhD student in the School of Sociology at the University of Arizona, working on migration, mobility justice, and how people decide whether to move when staying and leaving both carry risk.

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Dallin Johnson, smiling, outdoors under desert trees

About

My research sits where migration meets precarity. I work from a mobility justice perspective: the ability to move, and the ability to stay, are unevenly distributed, and that unevenness tracks familiar lines like age, income, and gender.

At Utah State, I studied this around the drying Great Salt Lake, asking who in nearby communities believes they could leave if they had to. At Arizona, I'm turning to the other side of the question: people who stay put even when leaving looks like the obvious choice.

I came to sociology from psychology because I think changing systems reaches more people than working with one person at a time. I lived in the Dominican Republic for two years and do research in both English and Spanish.

Research

The decision to stay

Most migration research asks why people leave. I'm interested in the people who don't, especially those who choose to stay in places where staying is risky. I'm developing a qualitative project on voluntary immobility, with a focus on how accumulated disadvantage shapes the stay-or-go decision.

Climate and the Great Salt Lake

My master's thesis used survey data from communities near the drying Great Salt Lake to test whether people's perceived ability to move away differs along sociodemographic lines. It does, by age, income, and gender. I've since re-analyzed the data with latent class analysis to build vulnerability profiles that can guide targeted research and policy.

I was also a research assistant on a Southwest Climate Adaptation Science Center project using community-based participatory research across the Great Salt Lake, Lake Mead, Lake Powell, and the Salton Sea.

Methods

I work across methods: multilevel and logistic regression and latent class analysis in R, survey design, semi-structured interviewing and qualitative coding, and community-based participatory research, in English and Spanish.

Work

Manuscripts

  • Ryder, S., Long-Meek, E., Thompson, N., Mikulewicz, M., Givens, J., Watkins, B., Schad, J., Tasnim, T., & Johnson, D. "Using Reflexive Community-Based Participatory Methods to Enhance Climate Research, Advocacy, Allyship & Action." npj Climate Action. Under review
  • Johnson, D., Ryder, S., Givens, J., & Park, H. "Migration as Adaptation: Place-Based Vulnerability in the Context of the Drying Great Salt Lake." In preparation for Environmental Sociology.

Reports

  • Johnson, D., et al. (2025). "Utahns' Understanding and Support of Environmental Equity and Justice." Utah People and Environment Poll, Paper 20.
  • Ryder, S., Rowley, J., & Johnson, D. (2023). Evaluating Research and Planning for Climate Migration and Displacement in the Rural and Arid West (Quick Response Research Report Series, Report 364). Natural Hazards Center, University of Colorado Boulder.

Presentations

  • Johnson, D., Ryder, S., Givens, J., & Park, H. (2026). "Migration as Adaptation: Place-Based Vulnerability in the Context of the Drying Great Salt Lake." American Sociological Association Annual Meeting.
  • Johnson, D., et al. (2024). "Addressing Climate Displacement in Emergency Planning: A Case Study of the Great Salt Lake." Natural Hazards Center Researchers Meeting, University of Colorado Boulder.
  • Johnson, D., Jensen, A., Shubert, J., & Oldroyd, K. (2023). "Influence of Deviance in Close Peer Groups and School Norms on Deviance in Adolescents." Poster, Rocky Mountain Psychological Association, Albuquerque, NM.
  • Saunders, J., Merrill, N., Johnson, D., Reese, E., Vazquez, V., Chevrier, A., & Taylor, J. O. (2023). "Conducting Undergraduate Research on Sleep and Emotional Reactivity." Poster, UVU Showcase of Undergraduate Scholarly & Creative Works, Orem, UT.

Background

Teaching

Instructor of record for Introduction to Sociology (SOC 150B1) at the University of Arizona. Designed and taught the full course.

Affiliations

Great Salt Lake Social Science Network

Education

PhD, Sociology, University of Arizona (in progress)
MS, Sociology, Utah State University
BA, Psychology, Utah Valley University

Get in touch

I'm glad to hear from people working on migration, mobility, or climate displacement, and from anyone thinking about a collaboration.

Download CV (PDF)